Method of making fertilizer material



Patented 1928.

a. nmnrons, or

SLGIHLW, I ICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T MICHIGAN SUGAR 00K- PLII'Y, OI SLGIHAW, MICHIGAK.

mop or mmemarurznn MATERIAL.

Io Drawing.

This. invention is a novelmethod of mak mg fertilizer material, from concentrated Steflens liquor and peat, or from distillery slo and peat.

y improvement is the outcome of extensive' research and experimentation, atically caried on over a long period of time with the object of discovering some controlling factor, phase, or reaction, among the steps of the old fermentation method of making peat fertilizer that might be advantageously altered or improved upon, whereby finished fertilizer of better quality could beobtaine'dmore uickly, at less cost; I desire to accomplis these results without adding any special re-agents or chemicals to the usual basic materials theretofore em- .g-loyeinamely, peat, Stefiens concentrate, or 'stillery slop and hosphate; and to eliminate, if possible, t e time-consuming step, fermentation. I f v My. present claimed method does reduce the time of manufacture, although'using the same basic materials, to about one fortieth of that formerly .required. Moreover, it reduces the cost. yields a product of better and more uniform grade, and eliminates the contains about thirty per centmoisture, and

fermentation step of the old method.

The advance that I have attained by this newmethod over the former practice is an extremely simple-one, but ve important. It relates to the conditioning o the peat, or

liquor, or both of them, with respect to temperature, moisture content and possibly also with respect to their air content, at the moment they are mixed. The invention, therefore, belongs to that class of discoveries 1n which a new result isattained-by the same elements when assembled and manipulated in the old manner.

' The new result is attained by a novel method of manipulating the materials in a consecutive series of progressive steps, some of which are old, others new.

its original cond tion as dog, (containing about sixty per cent by weightof water) or after it has been airand sun-dried (until it contains about forty r cent of water).

Ii The peatil then has while pa system- Istrt 'th ti of t either-in a m a gum ty pea drying and partial cooling bring the mois- Application fled Iebmary is, me. Serial No. amass.

tated, preferably in contact with hot surfaces such as steam pipes, and inthe resence of a current of hot air, as in a rier. The degree of heat, namely, close to the bo1l1ng point of water, is such that most of 5 the air and water are driven off very rapidly. The air, 'gas and water vapor rise 1n clouds. Heating is continued until, the hot peat shows a moisture content ,ofabout' twenty 00 per cent .by weight and its temperature as 1t emerges from the drier is about eighty to nlnety egrees centigrade' Immediately the hot, dry, air-freed peat is drenched with hot Stetfens concentrate containing about 05 forty. per cent moisture, or with hot distillery slo li uor, or with whatever e uivalent potashcaring liquor may be emp oyed in lieu ofthem. Quickidrenching may be accomplished by delivering the hot at direct from the drier into a body of the, ot liquor,

or by spraying the hot liquor on the peat as 1t comes from the drier, or both.

The hot peat will take up the hot liquor to such extent that the mixture will contain 15 about equal arts, by weight, of li uor and peat. The hot plastic mixture, erefore,

is of a semi-fluid consistency. It has the property of quickly changing its physical appearance and characteristics upon exposure to the air. For instance, if the freshmixed plastic mass is'put into a cart and wheeled a hundred feet or so to a store room, it changes even in that short time,-say, about 86 five minutes, from a state of semi-fluidity to that of an apparentlyd fine powder that feels to the touch like risly ground sundried natural peat. This mass is practically free from chunks or lum s,.and such lumps 90 as are formed will readlly fall apart into powder. The mixture is next spread, as on a floor, to a depth of one and one half to two feet. Withm twenty-four to forty-eight hours the atmospheric exposure, continued 06 ture content down to. about twen -five per cent. At this. time certain chemlcal reactions evidently take-place. The exact nature ofthese reactions is known to me at the ma y processes-of oxidation.

descri resent time, but they ap ar to be e degree of dryness attained, namel twent -five per cent moisture, is about rig t for t e. roper admixture of phosphate, which ma applied atthis time or later, as desir The completed fertilizer is stored in piles pre aratory to shipping.

y entire process up to the addltion of hosphate may be completed in less than orty-ei ht hours, whereas the old methods require two or three months to bring the mixture to the powdery or ranular stage. The attainment of this esirable result depends primarily upon the two steps,name- 1y, heatin the peat to drive oif its air and water, an then, before cooling and re-absorption of air can take place, mixing the hot peat with aippr'oximately an equal weight of hot Ste ens or equivalent liquor. This liquor, at temperatures around eighty to ninety degrees centigrade, is thoroughly fluid and quickly penetrates the interstices of the peat'particles by the processes of adsor tion and capillary action. I

t this stage there occurs a radical and fundamental departure from the method heretofore employed.

According to the old method, the peat and liquor were usually mixed cold, or at about atmospheric temperature, or else the peat was cold and the liquor alone hot, to render it more fluid. After mixing, the material was stored in large piles for a period of two or three months, during which time internal heating and fermentation occurred. To prevent over-heating, the pile was periodically forked by hand. I

In my described process fermentation does not occur to any appreciable extent and consequently the time heretofore required for fermentation is saved. As I have already pointed out, the hot dry peat and the hot fluidified liquor mix with extreme ra idity and thoroughness. Doubtless the iquor is taken up partly by absorption into th pores of thepeat and part-1 by adsorption over the extensive aggregate areas of the peat particles, or by capillary action aided y suction created in the cells during the steam-and-air-liberating step above. described. This intimate union of the peat and liquor is probably accompanied and followed by artial oxidation of the liquor. Before oxi ation the solid matter of the liquor is hi hly deliquescent and if dried without oxi ation will take 'up atmospheric moisture very rapidly, but after being oxidized the solid matter of the liquor loses nearly all of its moisture-absorbing properties and thereafter refuses not only to take up atmospheric moisture, but will readily give up its moisture content upon heating.

Cons uently by mixture, made as above remains permanently dry and retains its powdery or granular character. This is especially true if oxidation is encouraged, as in t e next ste of my process. This step consists in sprea ing the freshly mixed material to cool in a layer of not more than one and one half to two feet thickness. The layer may be thinner if desired, although I have found this thickness satisfactory. If 5 read thicker than two feet, the mass is llkel to develop a tendency to internal heating, but if less than two feet thick the heat is dissipated as it generates, and turning or forking the mass is, therefore, unnecessary.

My process is entirely chemical in its nature. Hence the necessary reactions take place with great rapidity. Since fungus or yeast growth or fermentation does not take place, as in the method heretofore practiced, exposure after mixing need not be continued longer than forty-eight hours. Losses of ammonia, which formerly occurred during fermentation, are here avoided, because the mixture is in completed powdery, granular condition, ready for the addition of phosphate within about twenty-four hours after its delivery from the mixer, before overheating caused by fermentation, with its consequent loss of ammonia, has had a chance to begin.

The necessary amount ofphosphate may be applied at this stage, or later, as desired. The mixture made according to the above method permanently retains its powdered or granular character, whereas under the old method of fermentation for two or three months, the mass became quite lumpy and hadjzo be stirred or turned frequently after nnxlng.

From the foregoing description, it is plain that my method accomplishes, in about two days" time, the same or better results than heretofore have been accomplished with the same materials in three-months, and that the improved results are due to the fact that the mixing is done with hot pre-dried peat and pre-heated liquor, the moisture content of the peat and liquor respectively, at the time of mixing. being such that the moisture in the mixture will be not more than thirty per cent by weight.

The resultant material, upon cooling, is dry enough to permanently maintain its powdery or granular form without being dusty, and wet enough to prevent the liquor from settling out previous to or during the mixing operation.

Having thus I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of manufacturing fertiliser material consisting in, first, driving air and water from peat by application of heat until the moisturecontent is approximately onefifth of the weight of the peat and the temdescribed my invention, what Lee-1.1m:

perature of the peat is above ei hty degrees centigrade, second, immersing t c said peat while still hot and ractically deprived of air, in hot potasharing liquor, third 5 draining the hot residual 1i nor from the hotsaturatcd peat, and fourt, reading the drained mixture to a. depth 0 two feet or less, and allowing it to stand for twentyfour to forty-eight hours.

2. In the manufacture of fertilizer mew rial'from ,t and potash-hearmg liquor the method of ihixing which consists in ap pl ing sufieient heat to the peat to convert e greater part of its water content into steam and to drive of! the entrained air, preheating 15' KARL R. LmnFonsi 

